She is the step-mother of Manuel Cuotemoc Malle and Justine Malle - children of her first husband, Louis Malle.
She made instant headlines in 1992 when then Vice President Dan Quayle criticized "Murphy Brown" (1988) for creating the storyline of Murphy having a baby out of wedlock. Quayle suffered a fair amount of backlash and ridicule for his remarks and "Murphy Brown" continued to be a highly popular show, right up to its last season in 1998.
She studied drama at HB Studio in Greenwich Village in New York City.
She was kicked out of the University of Pennsylvania after failing 2 subjects. She said that she failed one of those classes, art, because she simply couldn't get to her 8 am class on time.
The French language dubbing of Miss Congeniality (2000), when aired in Quebec, Canada contains both hers and William Shatner's voices.